Method of filling shoes



March 7, 1933. A. THOMA METHOD OF FILLING SHOES Filed Jan. 6, 1928Patented Mar. 7, 1933 PATENT OFFICE nnnnnw TI-IOMA, or CAMBRIDGE,MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T Non'rnnMEnIoAN CHE-REGAL COMPANY, OF BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSA- crrusnrrs METHOD OF FILLING SHOESApplication filed January 6, 1928.: Serial No. 245,001.

In the use of certain kinds of filler in the shoe bottom there has beenfound to be a tendency for the same to mold in the shoebottom in dampweather or under certain temperature and humid conditions. Such filleris set forth in my method application Ser. No. 210,558 and articleapplication Ser. No. 211,157. The present method aims to render thisunfortunate result impossible. To this end I may provide substantiallythe same filler ingredients as set forth in the aforesaid applications,the principal difference being that I eliminate or expel the volatileconstituents from within the porous body material at some time beforethe filler gets into the shoe-bottom. To this end I preferably mix thecomminuted body material with an enveloping gelatinous paste or othercrust forming medium so as thoroughly to. coat each granule or particleof the body material with a thin film thereof, and then by heat or othermeans of evaporation I drive off all the evaporable constituent fromsaid coating and also from within the body material granule in case anyof the volatile element should have penetrated thereinto. In, otherwords I thus maintain the dry granular condition,

" against the molding, or so as to accomplish but coated and protectedby an impervious film or skin like a acket or armor. This removes theelement which has heretofore caused the molding above mentioned.

In my previous Patent No. 1,032,312, dated July 9, 1912, I combinedpasty ingredients with wax tailings and the like as a binder but not soas to form a skin and provide any of the results of thepresentinvention. In the disclosure of said patent there was'noimpervious skin, no barrier in the sense of the present invention, thecork was .not maintained with its original light weight,and a subsequentcoo-king process was necessary for developing the paste, besldes manyother radical differences which it'is unnecessaryhere to polnt out.

l/Vith my filler as first above explained I when the filling operator isready to fill his shoe bottom he releases or softens this crustedcoating by heat, moisture, steam or whatever quickenmg process theparticular klnd of ly illustrated my method,

'tioned copending applications.

encrusting coating may be sufiicient in amount and characterto'constitute the binder itself orpreferably it simply holds the fillerparticles protected as stated but still discreet, and in such case thebinder-is mainly separate in the form of wax tailings or other waxy orsticky material of'well known character.

' In the drawing, in which I have graphical- Fig. v1 is a conventionalview broken away or sectioned of a mixer; and

Fig. 2v is a cross sectional enlarged detail of a chunk-like piece offiller constructed for carrying out my method.

. It will be understood that the filler may be of any of the usualplastic varieties, many of which are disclosed in my filler patents andalso in my copending filler applications. I

It is suflicient to refer to the above two men- The com-. minuted fillermaterial, as for instance ground cork, is thrown into a mixer 1 with aquantity of preferably thick gelatinous, jelly-like coating materialsuch as apparatine, gelatin, glue, paste, or any pasty materials likestarch, dextrine, flour, magnesia compounds, shellac, or the longv listof resinous substances, and thoroughly" agitated or mixed preferably inthe. presence of heat.

The objectisto thoroughly coat each particle of the body material withasthin but complete a coating skin as possible while at the same timedriving off by means of the heat and the agitation all volatilepenetrative substances present, thereby leaving the body materialthoroughly coated with an impervious covering and in as light weight acondition as possible. Then this mass of body material composed of theindividually coated,

relatively discreet granules or particles, is thoroughly mlxed wlth anysuitable binder, as for example melted wax tailings, or any other of thelarge variety of binders. The Y binder material ispoured into the mass,in the mixer 1 and thoroughly mixed, It is unnecessaryto explain thisstep any farther as it is substantially the same as has heretofore beenlong practiced in making fillers. Of course it a binder is used whichdoes not require heat, the mixer is not heated. The mixer is firstheated as first above explainerh simply to hasten the evaporation of thevolatile portion of the coating element as well to drive out themoisture, it any,- trom withinthe particles and leave them completelyarmored or protected with a shin. By impervious I mean that it will notadi. i penetration or absorption of the external cinder ele mentwhatever it may be in the particular filler. In the mixer in Fig. 1 lhave indicated at 2 the mass of particles being 1r ed and in Fig. 2 Ishow the corlr or other coinminuted body elements 3 coated with aprotector & and, in case said protector is not itself a binder or isconsidered insufiicient, a separate or additional binder =5 is employed.

The result is that theiiller material-has no tendency to mold ordeteriorate as an article of manufacture, but is read and maintained inproper condition, at all times by this process. JV hen the shoe is to btilled the operator quickens the filler by such suitable means as iscalled for by the particular combination of elements present. Forinstance it the binder be wax tailings and the coating is a varnish orcovering of resin or other resinous material the quickening agency issimply heat. On the other hand if the coating" is an encrusting ofapparatine, for example, the filler is subjected to steam. This ismaintained just sufiiciently to soften the mass of filler and render itspreadable, whereupon. it is at once spread in the shoe-bottom. In casethe covering material is disrupted by pressure or in any other way andremoved from its protecting relation to the body particles, and in casethe latter are absorbent, the result then is that a portion of thebinder material is at once absorbed thereby. For instance if the bindermaterial be war: tailings, an appreciable portion oi said wax tail'ngsare sucked in or absorbed by the ground cork so as to stiffen the laidfiller as soon as the wax tailings have served their function ofrendering the filler spreadable. The result is that the laid filler nowbecomes relatively and yet permanently resilient which two results areessential in an ideal filler layer.

What I claim and desire to s cure by Letters Patent is Themethod ofmaking spreadable shoe bottom filler which comprises coating theindividual particles of coinmin' Lbrous, absorbent body material with afluid paste made of a suitable film-forming substance and an 'evaporableliquid, then drying; the coated articles and driving of? Whatevere'vaporable liquid may be present both in the coating and in the coatedparticles, leaving each particle enclosed by a dry, protective filmadapted to prevent penetration and absorption by the particles ofexternal binder and of external moisture, and adapted to be disrupted inuse, and then mixing the dry film-coated particles With a sticky binderto form a homogeneous filler composition.

Signed by me at Cambrids'e, Mass. this fifth day of January 1928.

ANDRE /V THOMA.

